


Bull in a China Shop

by FictionWriterD



Category: Original Work
Genre: China, Chinese New Year, Gen, Magical, Martial Arts, Monsters, Triad - Freeform, chinese mafia - Freeform, mythical
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29415195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FictionWriterD/pseuds/FictionWriterD
Summary: It's the Lunar New Year.  Twin martial artists Leixia and Xian live at peace with the grandfather in San Francisco, hoping to have new lives after a tragedy in their hometown of Hong Kong. Too bad their past comes back to haunt them when a pair of celestial beings come searching for the Storm, a pair of mythical and powerful weapons meant for the gods. And the twins have no intention of handing them over.





	1. Chapter 1

San Francisco Chinatown was abuzz with activity. The annual celebrations for the Lunar New Year were in full swing as the festive color red dominated the neighborhood. Red lanterns hung from every post and across every street. Games and other assortment of entertainment were all around leaving no chance for anyone attending to be bored. The people, both residents of the neighborhood and not, were celebrating in their own way. Those of Chinese descent wore traditional clothing, all colored red for the event that would span the next few days. Small fireworks would go off randomly and the noise level was always high. Drums beat in particular rhythm with the traditional dancing of a local parade.

Even inside the well known restaurant called the White Tiger business was booming and the staff were under pressure to keep up with the influx of customers. The place was colored red and gold and was like a piece of China had been dropped in America. It gave off the Asian vibe perfectly and felt genuine. The customers inside were loving the food and were ordering second servings by the truck load. For the disciplined like the waitress Leixia, this wasn't a big deal. Seh was sweating lightly in the face of the amount of work she was faced with but was taking it in stride. Her red dress shirt and black skirt uniform was showing signs of stress but she kept up with demand.

She approached the front window with a few dirty dishes from a finished table. "Got another table to clean Xian."

Inside the kitchen, besides the cooks, was the dish washer who was also Leixia's twin younger brother. He was wearing the same uniform as his sister though he wore a white apron on the front to protect it from grime. "You know this happens every year you'd think grandpa would get someone faster to do this job instead of me." He was swamped with dirty dishes and constantly complained, which was normal for a laid back teenager like him.

Setting the dishes on the counter Leixia took a moment to tie the length of her hair into a tail. The raven hair on her temples was already braided and pinned atop her head. Though she wasn't technically taking part in the festival outside she still felt the need to be more dignified in her appearance. That was something her brother didn't much care for.

"He'd just tell you to not get distracted so much and concentrate," she said.

"Sheesh," was her brother's response before looking out the window overlooking the sink. He could see people enjoying the festivities and wanted to be out there instead of working. "How much longer do we have to stay in here? We should be having fun out there instead of-"

His sister cut off his complaint, "Grandfather says the festival will be cut short tonight but will be going on in full tomorrow. We'll most likely be able to go out then."

The twins' grandfather was the owner of the White Tiger and was also the one taking care of them ever since they had moved from Hong Kong. They worked at the restaurant in order to help return his kindness. Sadly that meant they were the only ones guaranteed to show up on time and were valuable to the stability of the place. While dutiful Leixia took that in stride, her brother wasn't afraid to show his displeasure at being all work and no play.

"No go tonight?" He thought for a second before Leixia got his attention by pushing a pile of dirty plates in front of him. "I guess i can live with that. As long as we are guaranteed to go before the festivals end."

Leixia agreed. Though she didn't mind helping she also liked the idea of spending a few hours with her brother enjoying a taste of home. She loved her brother, as much of an annoyance he could be.

Still, that was tomorrow. Right now they had work to do. "Well, we better get back to doing our jobs."

"Sure sis but it will be a bit. I'm backed up here."

"Don't worry when i find a moment I'll jump back and give you a hand."

"Like always, thanks."

With that the twins went back to work, while the festival outside went on without them for now.

The Golden Gate Bridge had reduced traffic this late at night. Though from where Qǐzhòngjī stood no one without exceptional eyesight would be able to see him. He stood atop one of the archways of the bridge, hands in his white and black robes. He didn't like the cold and yet he had to get a view of where he would be heading in the next few days. He could see Chinatown in the distance easily with his immaculate eyesight which was supernaturally enhanced. Still, he had a problem with his mission.

'Why bother coming here for a trinket?'

Heavy footsteps behind him were heard but he didn't move. A huge armored man with bull horns sticking out of his temples and standing at over seven feet tall walked up behind the smaller man. "You still sulking here? Humans are humans. There's no sense in trying to figure them out."

"Ever the imbecile, Gōngniú. We have to scout out our mission before we take it on."

The big man chuckled loudly, "You think too much. We were told to go and get the Storm, and never once were we told how to go about it. I say we go in there and just trash the place until we find it."

"And cause a scene that alerts too many to our presence? I'd rather not take the chance," said Qǐzhòngjī. He was always the careful one of the duo. He could make observations that others would miss. Like what was going on around the neighborhood he was viewing. With his green eyes he could make out a magical field surrounding Chinatown like a dome but its purpose he couldn't figure out.

Still that didn't change the fact that the crane and the bull were to go into the place and look for a very important artifact.

"The Storm is in there somewhere. We are to find it."

Gōngniú crossed his arms over his large chest. Being as tall as he was and as imposing as he appeared to be with his black bull like armor he was hard to approach. "And what is the Storm again?"

Sighing in irritation Qǐzhòngjī once again spoke about their mission. "Most likely a pair of weapons. Swords. So please don't cause a commotion until after we find them, okay?"

The big man chuckled, "No promises, crane. But at least we are dressed for a festive atmosphere."

It was in that little detail that the two celestial beings found their first bit of humor in coming to this strange land. Hopefully, before their mission was complete, they would have a better one.


	2. Chapter 2

The Lunar festival was a full week of activity in Chinatown. It was now day three of the festivities. That gave the twins four days to enjoy themselves and each one wanted to do it in their own way. That was what made them so unique. Being twins they shared a few interests such as martial arts and working well together. Then there was what separated them from each other.

Xian had gotten his clothes out and folded them-a red shirt with a large outline of a golden bull head with khaki cargo pants-and had them setting on his dresser. He considered that an outfit to wear, as low key as it was in comparison to anyone else.

Then there was Leixia.

The boy went to the bathroom door and knocked on it. "Hey sis? How far along are you?"

From the other side of the door Leixia responded, "Not even the first step in, Xian."

The brother rolled his eyes. There was a reason he didn't ask how long she was going to be. When it came to parties and such his sister insisted on looking elegant and because of that she could literally take hours just to prep herself. She often found pictures on the internet of what she wanted her hair to look like and without practicing she would set herself up. Xian had to admit that the end result was impressive every time, definitely not a waste of time.

He just couldn't stand not being able to use the only bathroom in the house for multiple hours.

Yet he would rather not argue with his sister, especially when she was so determined to make herself look good. "Fine, I'll suffer for now." He walked away, making the decision to go to the restaurant and use the restroom there.

Inside the bathroom Leixia was deep into her choice of hairstyle. When it came to dressing up she always started out bare. Shower first then she would stand in front of the mirror wearing only her under clothes before going for the first step in her outfit. Using her tablet to look up pictures on the internet, she had quite a few hairstyles to choose from. Usually she had her hair up in a pair of intricate buns atop her head. This time she wanted to add a bit of variation to that.

Instead she got her hair into a single bun on the back of her head and had the majority of her hair went down in a single tail down her back. That was the simple part. Then she decided to go complex in terms of jewelry. Golden beads were added to strands of her hair on her temples and the bun on the back of her head had a pair of long gold needles crisscrossing in it. Smaller pieces of jewelry like rings on her hands and bracelets on her wrists would come later.

It took her roughly two hours to finish up her hair alone, and with it being mid-afternoon it would be dark by the time she was fully done. Thankfully her dress was far simpler in execution. A red and gold qipao dress with a phoenix design in gold lining adorning the front. The skirt of the dress was attached at the bottom with metal buttons for quick removal.

Dressed to impress but with a bit of practicality behind it, because if there was one thing Leixia knew it was where ever she went trouble normally found her. So she had to make sure it was possible for her to go from festive to fight in one go.

The dress itself was fit to her form like a second skin. She was described as pretty on a normal basis, but with the qipao she was greatly enhanced to actress levels of beautiful. Yet the dress was slightly tight on her chest. Her measurements, especially for a girl her age, was what made it hard for the tailor to get it to her before the festival. 'Then again my measurements are B34" W22" H33". How often do Chinese girls have numbers like that?' She chuckled, not paying much mind to her own body outside her muscle mass when training. It was definitely something she should pay more attention to. She did like that she wasn't a busty girl otherwise the dress wouldn't have fit in the end.

Getting the dress on took less than an hour, and when she finally came out of the bathroom she felt like a whole new girl.

She expected her brother to be waiting for her just to scramble into the bathroom after her first step out. Instead as he put on the perfume she saw that her grandfather was standing against the wall smiling at his grand daughter.

"Hello, grandfather," she said with a smile. She always sounded formal in addressing her elders which also included family. Her grandfather was the only family she had left besides her brother. Smiling in appreciation to the girl before him, the little old man dusted off slender shoulders. "You look lovely, Leixia. Have fun tonight."

With a surprising nervous breath Leixia thanked her elder and grabbed her shoes before heading down the stairs to the restaurant. It was closed now despite the festival outside, but the twins were ecstatic to be able to go out and have fun on what would normally be a work night.

Xian was standing outside the front door with his arms crossed over his chest. He heard the door open and turned around. "Your time in the bathroom was less than last time."

"Zhùkǒu (Shut up)," she said as she finished putting on her small heeled sandals on. She was at the same height as her brother when she stood up next to him. "Well, let's make the best of tonight okay-" She peered down at his arms, at first distracted with his choice of outfit before she saw his wrists. "Why are you wearing those?"

From the top of his wrists to his elbows Xian wore golden colored arm-guards. They were intricately adorned with a dragon etched into their metal. The boy looked down at his new accessories and shrugged, "Just in case we run into trouble. It's not like we can bring those swords with us into crowds, can we?"

"If I had the choice we wouldn't even think of using them," said the older sibling as she started to walk. The swords her brother mentioned were a secret no one outside the family was to know about. Known as the Storm, the two blades were priceless artifacts that were sought back in China because of their ties to the celestial deities of the old kingdoms. Those were not just stories either. Neither were the tales of the swords having mystical powers such as control of thunder and lightning, which gave them their name. It was by fate that the twins had stolen them and were now the wielders of their power. That came with a price they had already paid for in spades.

And like most things, the twins disagreed with what should be done with the swords.

"I like to have them around whenever there's trouble. Where's the harm in that, sis?" Xian was more into using the blades for protection. That notion wasn't a bad one but the way he spoke about them sounded like a little kid itching to get their hands on a game controller after watching someone else have fun with it.

Then Leixia played the part of responsible adult. "They're dangerous, brother, and we can't use them until we have trained ourselves properly to use them." The swords' power was hard to control but according to the twins' grandfather, not impossible. With diligent training they could theoretically control the great power within the steel.

Yet patience wore thin when it came to the two teens, due to the constant amount of trouble they found themselves in. Xian despised excessive training and was too laid back for his own good, while Leixia was more fearful of using the swords' power.

Xian sighed. He knew he wasn't going to change her mind so he didn't pursue the subject further. "Anyway, this festival isn't going to wait on us. Let's have fun!"

Deciding to infiltrate the crowd at the festival had been a sound plan in Crane's mind. Then they found the shops were drink and food were literally given away and all was lost. They were supposed to be looking for the Storm and yet the simplicity of the mortal festival they infiltrated had all but destroyed whatever careful planning they had in mind. Bull jumped on the opportunity with gusto, eating and drinking with like minded mortal men and having a good time. Even with his imposing bull armor he fit right into the environment with no mind paid to it. His partner wasn't exempt from it either, as Crane even got compliments on his outfit fitting with the theme of the festival.

While Bull took it with stride the more noble Crane felt insulted. 'These mortals think my celestial robes are a costume? Absurd!'

While the two celestials were supposed to be searching Crane helped pass the time by checking on the games the humans played. It was during one of those games that he saw something that made his blood boil.

Humans were playing a game of cards. Three boys and three girls at a small table and despite not knowing what was being played Crane took notice of how the girls were jovial at the end of it while the boys were depressed. The game itself was unknown to Crane but he could tell the girls won and in turn they were showing arrogance of their victory by taunting their defeated opponents.

Seeing the arrogance from the girls made Crane do something about it. With graceful swiftness he unsheathed his sword and made one long cut in a single stroke before sheathing it again. No one around saw him use it as it was too fast for the human eye to notice. The girls wore tight fitting qipao of red and white and with their backs to him Crane sliced right through the fabric. Not cutting the skin but going through the fabric, the qipao fell right off their slender bodies and they screamed. The boys that had been wallowing in defeat now were laughing at the sudden peepshow they had been given and the girls were screaming while scrambling for something to cover themselves with.

All the while Crane walked on with a smirk on his face. Female arrogance always got to him and he made no notion to hide his hatred of it. To him, women were not to stand tall when men were present.

The older more beautiful man went on walking and came to the edge of Chinatown where a red dragon gate marked where the neighborhood ended. Not only that but it also showed where the protective field ended as well. Humans walked through it without noticing it and were unharmed. Crane and Bull had gone through it as well earlier that day without issue. That meant that it wasn't a barrier to keep other celestials out. If that was the case then the two would have been repelled at the first step.

Then what is its purpose, thought Crane as he raised his left hand to touch the field.

His hand passed through the field like a knife through butter.

Interesting...

Still Crane knew there had to be a reason for such a structure to exist even if its purpose wasn't glaringly obvious.

He'd find out before his mission was over. He liked a good puzzle after all.


End file.
